Piano-pedal construction.



S. W. WIDNEY.

PIANO PEDAL CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26. 1914.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

I w Z M 5 MA/ ha. 5W w an? STANLEY W. WIDNEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PIANO-PEDAL CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

Application filed September 26, 1914. Serial No. 863,614.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, STANLEY W. WTDNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Chicago, county of Cock, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piano-Pedal Cons ructions, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in piano pedal constructions, and among its salient objects are, to provide a construction in which the shank of the pedal and the slot therefor are of such a character as eflectually to prevent ingress of mice and other vermin to the piano without the necessity of providing any special arrangement to exclude such animals; to provide a construction in which the pedal shank is so arranged as to be slightly resilient, and thus damage to any of the parts of the structure is prevented in case the foot-piece of the pedal receives a heavy blow; to provide a construction of the class described in which the foot-piece may be made of ornamental and graceful form free from obtrusive plates or projections to cover the shank slot; to provide a piano pedal shank of such a character as to admit the application of the prop to the same in an improved and eflicient manner; to provide an improved construction whereby the connection between the prop and the pedal shank admits of the use of a prop of exceptionally simple and efficient design. capable of being readily adjusted for any desired throw; to provide a construction of the class described in which the various parts capable ofrelative mutual movement may be made free from squeak or other harsh noises during the operation of the pedal; to provide a piano pedal construction which shall be cheap and economical to manufacture and capable of being easily operated and maintained; and, in general, to provide an improved piano pedal construction of the character referred to.

In the accompanying drawingFigure 1 represents a fragmentary section of the lower corner of the case of a piano to which my invention is applied; Fig. 2 is a section of Fig. 1 taken on the line 22; Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is an elevation of the prop.

Referring to the drawings, 10 represents the base-board of the piano case, the front edge of which supports or is secured to the toe-rail 11 which forms a, part of .the front of the piano case. Upon the base-board 10 I prefer to mount a bracket piece 12 which comprises a piece of sheet metal having a pair of upstanding ears 13 forming opposed bearings for the pivot secured in the pedal shank 14. This pivot mounting, however, may be of any usual construction and forms no part of my present invention. The pedal shank 14 is an essentially novel feature of my invention consisting of a relatively resilient strip of metal mounted on edge, as shown, and having its edges slightly rounded off, as shown, at 15 in Fig. 1 where it passes through the vertically extending slot 16 cut in the toe-rail 11. The slot 16 is bushed with felt 17, as shown in Fig. 2, in order to prevent the metal of the shank from striking or rubbing against the wood of the toe-rail and thus causing objectionable noises or wear of the toe-rail. The outer end of the pedal shank 14 is secured in a slot formed in the lower corner of the foot-piece 18, either by a pair of rivets 19 or by any other suitable means; preferably the pedal is inserted in the slot 16 when the lower end of the latter is open, before the toe-rail 11 and the base member 10 are placed together. Owing to the resilient character of the pedal shank 14, it will be observed that however rigid and unyielding the pivot mounting 12 of the inner end of the shank, when the footpiece receives a blow tending to bend the shank or strain the mounting, the shank will spring slightly and injury to the parts will be avoided. Another advantage of the narrow shank is that it permits the use of a very narrow slot 16 and necessitates the provision of a pedal piece 18 having a rear end only of sufiicient width to cover the narrow slot, and consequently of a very neat and graceful appearance.

Where a rigid pedal shank is employed, invariably mechanical inaccuracies make it necessary to provide a considerable amount of play in the slot. Obviously with this form of construction the shank cannot be supported by the sides of the slot, and if by any chance the pedal is struck sidewise a sufficiently severe blow the pedal mounting is either broken or strained so that it becomes loose and wabbly. Since, however, with my construction I employ a comparatively thin thickness of felt for the sides of the slots and a very small amount of clearance between the shank and the felt, the latter being admissible on account of the usual'threaded upper end2l which .passes. v through the operating bar 22 and is engaged by a nut 23 'rest1ng upon the upper side of resilient character of the mounting, when n the resilient shank is pushed or knocked said bar. The lower end of the rod 20 is bent transversely at right angles, as shown at 24, and passes horizontally through one of the transverse apertures 25 punched or drilled through the shank 14:, a plurality of these apertures being provided in order to admit of the adjustment of the prop 20 for different amounts of movement. In order to prevent the prop from becoming disengaged from the shank, I bend down the extremity of the transverse portion 24 at an angle, as

shown at 26, this bend 26 being preferably bent parallel with the length of the prop and extending in a downward direction in order to facilitate the insertion of the prop in the shank. To prevent squeaks or noises caused by the relative movement of the prop and the shank when the pedal'is operated, I prefer to bush the transverse hole 25, through which the prop passes, with a piece of felt 27 which extends out of the hole on either sidea sufiicient distance to be held in place between the projecting portions of the prop and the shank. I have found this construction of prop connection to be extremely cheap and economical in construction and exceptionally easy to apply to and ad ust on the shank, since thereare no screw connections or other loose parts at the point of its connection with the shank, it being itselfsself-retaining.in'position so long as it is held upright by the bar v22. VV'hen occapedal-shank of relatively thin sheet metal mounted vertically edgewise on said horizontal pivotand having a transverse aperture therein, and a prop connecting said operating bar-with said shank comprising a vertically extending rod bent at its lower end transversely to engage the transverse aperture of the shank, thence downwardly to substantial parallelism with the rod proper, to detachably retain the prop in operative position.

2. The combination with a piano-caseprovided with a base board, and with atoe rail having asingle narrow slot for each pedal shank, of a bracket secured to the base board remote from the toe rail, a transversely'apertured pedal shank of thin fiat resilient metal pivoted to the bracket ver' tically as to its width and protruding at its forward end through the vertical slot in the toe rail, and a rigid pedal piece secured to the outer end of said shank, and a prop for connectingtheoperatingbar of a piano action with said shank comprising a vertically. extending 'rod bent at its lower end transversely to engage the transverse aperture of the shank, thence downwardly to substantial parallelism with the rod proper, to detachably retain the prop in operative position.

STANLEY W. WIDNEY; Witnesses:

G. A. fSoANs, MARY M. .Lnrro.

Copies of this; patent may .be obtained'for five cents each, by addressing-the Commissioner of LPatents,

Washington,jD.,C. 

